With that, Hadrian whisked her off to the dance floor, where the first lilting notes of a waltz had begun. He took her hand in his, placing his other at the back of her waist. As they joined the couples whirling around the floor, she felt a heady rush of exhilaration at being in his arms again. The dance steps might be relatively new to her, learned and practiced only this week, but they were the perfect expression for her soaring happiness.

When she tilted up her chin to smile dazzlingly at Hadrian, she found him gazing at her with mystified warmth. “Why did you do it?” he asked. “I’d have staved off any unpleasantness.”

“Are you sorry you lost your chance to play knight-errant?”

Cocking an eyebrow, he guided her in a perfect twirl. “You mustn’t feel compelled to act against your principles, Natalie. Failing to curtsy wouldn’t have been a tragedy. It’s just that my mother still remembers a time when she was snubbed as a young debutante for being a commoner.”

That did explain the duchess’s anxiety. Still, tonight something had changed in Natalie, something liberating and intoxicating. The issue of what society thought of her, or what she thought of society, no longer seemed so very important. Only Hadrian mattered.

“No one compelled me,” she assured him. “One can stay true to one’s ideals while occasionally doing what best suits the occasion. When in Rome, you once told me.”

An ironic smile tilted one corner of his mouth. “We were on our way to Oak Knoll. I’d offered you and Leo a ride without realizing that my cool hauteur was about to undergo a momentous shake-up.”

He sounded perfectly content with that, and Natalie marveled that she could have such a positive effect on this strong, powerful man. Hadrian wanted her as his wife, and she burned to tell him that she wanted that, too.

If only she could be certain of his love. If only she could rid herself of a niggling impression that he had not opened all of himself to her.

As the music ended, he maneuvered her toward the open doors and out onto the large balcony. A full moon cast a silvery mantle over the couples who were strolling here to escape the warmth of the ballroom—or perhaps a chaperone’s watchful eyes. Lighted lanterns were placed at regular intervals on the stone balustrade that overlooked the garden below.

Hadrian took advantage of the near-darkness to trail his fingers down her back and across her arm, causing a shiver in her that had nothing to do with the coolness of the night air. “It’s nearly time for supper,” he murmured. “But I confess to having a different sort of appetite.”

Passion radiated from him, the same desire that pulsed hotly in her blood. A pity they had an audience, for she yearned desperately to be alone with him. “Will you come upstairs with me for a moment?” she asked. “I promised Leo that I’d leave him a slice of cake on his bedside table.”